Speaking to members of his Socialist Party, Sánchez said Israel, like Russia, should not be allowed to compete in international sports events because of its military campaign in Gaza.
“Until the barbarity ends, neither Russia nor Israel should be in any international competition.”
Sánchez spoke a day after Sunday’s final stage of the Vuelta was cut short when pro-Palestinian protesters opposing the participation of Israeli team Israel Premier Tech threw barriers onto the road and clashed with police near the finish line in the Spanish capital.
Authorities said two people were arrested and 22 injured, none of them seriously.
The Spanish government had already expressed sympathy with the protesters and suggested that the Israel Premier Tech team should have withdrawn from the three-week-long race that became a diplomatic battleground.
The team removed its name from its uniforms but remained in the race until the end despite protesters’ calls for it to be expelled.
Sánchez slammed by Israel
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar responded to Sánchez’s comments by calling him an “antisemite and a liar.”
Did Israel invade Gaza on Oct. 7th or did the Hamas terror state invade Israel and commit the worst massacre against the Jews since the Holocaust?” he said in a post on X.
Madrid’s conservative mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, also criticised Sánchez and described Sunday’s events as a sad day for the Spanish capital.
Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard, who was leading the overall classification going into the final stage, was declared the winner of the Vuelta but the customary podium ceremony was cancelled.
“It’s a pity that such a moment of eternity was taken from us,” Vingegaard said. “Everyone has the right to protest, but not in a way that influences or endangers our race.”
The teams reportedly improvised a private podium ceremony later so riders could celebrate.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also condemned the protesters for “spoiling” the race and criticised Sánchez for “praising” the protests.
“The Vuelta’s position was clear, we had to abide to the norms of the International Cycling Union. It’s the UCI that regulates the right of admission to the race,” Guillén said at a news conference Monday.
“We never got into any other type of debate. All we wanted to do was to be able to finish the race with normalcy and that wasn’t possible.”
Spain has been at the forefront of Western efforts to hold Israel to account for the escalating death toll in Gaza.
A number of countries, including the UK and France, have said they plan to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General assembly and the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen called for scaling back Europe’s trade ties with Israel.
But Europe remains divided on its stance toward Israel and its limited sanctions and condemnations so far have had little effect.
